1929 Tudor wood replacement

UPS Driver

UPS Driver

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Okay so my 29 Tudor sedan roof wood has seen better days! When I hauled it home the vinyl blew off( darn duct tape) since it came with a new kit for the top I knew it needed redone. My question is since the doors open and close good is there any reason to mess with anything but the top? Also what is the best way to get to the fasteners and not do any damage? I can see the square nuts on top but not the bottom and haven’t actually had a lot of time to investigate. I’m having a local shop do the top vinyl because they did good work on my friends 29 pickup. Also before they do the vinyl I want to prime/ paint the metal underneath any recommendations? Thanks to all for the help
 
Most of the wood in the Tudors and Coupes is there for the top and interior trim to be fastened to. They tacked and screwed every thing back then. New wood will likely need some fitting and shaping to get it all to fit together properly and with the proper contour. The folks that make the wood pieces always leave something extra in order for the parts to fit all the cars. No two are exactly alike in this respect and especially after 90+ years of wear and tear. There are also interior tack stips that may need to be installed. Hopefully any metal retainer strips you may have are still usable.

Restoring the metal underneath the top is a given. It has to be cleaned of corrosion, repaired for any problems, and primed to keep the cancer at bay. Paint top coat would be the same as the body color for OEM specs. Since a lot is hidden by the top and interior headliner then you can top coat it however you want to. There are photos out there to compare with if you know where to find them. You-Tubes aren't all that good but they can give a person the general idea about the poultry netting and padding requirements prior to installing the top material. If you have someone lined up to do this then hopefully they have good experience with all that.

This is a link to Marko's old site.
https://web.archive.org/web/20190128114616/http://www.abarnyard.com/workshop/roofinstall-1.htm

B. Terry Restorations has restoration photos of a 29 Tudor on his site under the restorations tab if you want to look at them.
 
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The folks I have lined up will do the vinyl but not the wood my buddy did his own on his pickup and they did the vinyl/headliner/interior. I’m thinking of using a 2 part epoxy primer and edging in everything with a gloss black paint. Will it hurt anything to remove all the wood and paint I.e throw doors out of alignment?then paint and replace wood? Wood is from Snyder
 
The top of the body can affect door fit but not as much as the bottom of the body to frame mounting. If you still have old pieces of wood, it can be helpful with fitting the new pieces unless it's rotted away. As you fit it then check door fit and part fit as you go. Most of the wood in the Tudor is there to reinforce the steel and as something to tack to for coverings,

While the wood is out, clean and repair all the metal pieces. They all need to be primed at least on the inside. After wood is fit & ready for installation, you can put any good finish on the pieces you want. Ford tended to paint everything black. After the wood is completely installed then the body or at lest the areas convenient to the top work can be painted. Ford usually painted body color right over the wood when painting the body interior. They weren't too stingy with paint. The more corrosion and wood protection the better the way I see it.
 
I will definitely clean it up as I don’t want to have to do it again! Thank you all I’m probably doing this on my vacation soon so I’ll post pictures and help the next guy like you all are doing for me! That’s what I love so much about this Forrum is the people who have already done this stuff willingly sharing knowledge not in a condescending manner. Thank you
 
Does anyone know if the top /back roof wood should be glued together? It comes in three pieces with the end dados meshing with the center piece.
 
asloan5119 said:
Does anyone know if the top /back roof wood should be glued together? It comes in three pieces with the end dados meshing with the center piece.
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Are we speaking of the A-57239 Roof Rail Center, -or something else? If you can show me exactly which piece you are speaking of, I will look at my drawings.
 
If some wood pieces are good I would recomend only replace the bad. Also some limited rot can be fixed with epoxy wood restore products. Save yourself a lot of work.


John
 
Anyone have any hacks for removing the two very rusted very stuck nuts at the outside corners of the windshield frame that the wood bolts to?
 
The fasteners that held the wood are complicated to remove if they are badly corroded. The wood prevents heating the parts to break the rust weld that is there. I wouldn't plan on many of these fasteners being removed without drilling or cutting them to get things apart.

I'm familiar with special nuts that Ford used in my 1929 Sport Coupe wood. They have straight slots to hold them from turning during torquing but the mid portion can have bolt thread protrusion into the area between the slots so a special socket type tool would be needed to take them apart. The nuts are tapered to fit tight into the wood after the original torque up. I still have a few of these in case I would try to make new ones but the old ones were unusable. There are three and four prong nuts for this purpose in the modern era but they would not be original for authentic restoration purposes.
 

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rotorwrench said:
The fasteners that held the wood are complicated to remove if they are badly corroded. The wood prevents heating the parts to break the rust weld that is there. I wouldn't plan on many of these fasteners being removed without drilling or cutting them to get things apart.

I'm familiar with special nuts that Ford used in my 1929 Sport Coupe wood. They have straight slots to hold them from turning during torquing but the mid portion can have bolt thread protrusion into the area between the slots so a special socket type tool would be needed to take them apart. The nuts are tapered to fit tight into the wood after the original torque up. I still have a few of these in case I would try to make new ones but the old ones were unusable. There are three and four prong nuts for this purpose in the modern era but they would not be original for authentic restoration purposes.
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Couldn’t care less about originality in this case . It will be covered when finished my car isn’t and NEVER will be a museum piece
 
That wood doesn't look to be salvageable so cutting the bolts or drilling multiple holes in the wood to gain purchase with a vise grips so you can cut them or pull them out may be the order of the day.

When you get to the point of putting things back together spending extra time getting the joints smooth and holes filled so imperfections don't telegraph through the top material will be worth the extra effort.
 
Not in this particular application; but in the past I've taken a small hole saw and used it to cut around the rusted screws and removed the wood piece, then split the small piece remaining around the screw. Once the wood was out of the way, penetrant and/or heat was used to get the screw loose. Something to remember is that the end of the screw that protruded from the anchor nut may have a layer of rust on it that may damage the anchor nut or cause the fastener to shear off if not worked out carefully.
 
UPS Driver said:
Couldn’t care less about originality in this case . It will be covered when finished my car isn’t and NEVER will be a museum piece
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Not to sound condescending, ...but why do you feel like the Ford engineers took the time (-and spent the money) to install that wood in those places? It would be better if your car WAS going to be a museum piece and never driven because you need good sound wood with quality joint fits for the body to have structural integrity. These vehicle twist & flex tremendously as they are driven.

Based on my experiences with wood in a 55A bodystyle, it appears all of the body wood in your car is 'shot'. I have not purchased commercially available wood kits in awhile, but generally speaking they will not be a 'plug & play' installation. They typically will require quite a bit of fitment and finesse, so be prepared. As for the rusted fasteners, you will need to drill and grind the fasteners to cut them off. Replace with new fasteners.

Also, do not forget to install the small filler pieces above the windows before the upper rails go in as you cannot install them later.
 
BRENT in 10-uh-C said:
Not to sound condescending, ...but why do you feel like the Ford engineers took the time (-and spent the money) to install that wood in those places? It would be better if your car WAS going to be a museum piece and never driven because you need good sound wood with quality joint fits for the body to have structural integrity. These vehicle twist & flex tremendously as they are driven.

Based on my experiences with wood in a 55A bodystyle, it appears all of the body wood in your car is 'shot'. I have not purchased commercially available wood kits in awhile, but generally speaking they will not be a 'plug & play' installation. They typically will require quite a bit of fitment and finesse, so be prepared. As for the rusted fasteners, you will need to drill and grind the fasteners to cut them off. Replace with new fasteners.

Also, do not forget to install the small filler pieces above the windows before the upper rails go in as you cannot install them later.
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I meant the originality of the fasteners , what are you referring to as to the filler pieces above the windows
 
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